Cost of War In Iraq

November 30, 2011

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Rural Development Agency, under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, offers many of the services Americans used to count on from their banks, with one large proviso: These services are available only in rural areas.

Terry Brunner, the USDA's New Mexico director for rural development, oversees about 45 programs which do everything from providing loans for small and emerging private businesses to assisting in development of advanced biofuels. At one time, his agency helped bring electricity to rural farms and ranches across the nation.

Brunner says its mission has grown.

"We also have some programs where we give money to nonprofits and public bodies that are re-lenders or micro-lenders. So, they use our money to re-lend it out in the community. So we are doing, in some ways, what banks do."

Brunner says the agency's loans, grants and services are part of an effort to facilitate rural community and economic development. The Rural Development Agency still helps with utility concerns in rural areas, he says, but it also has a vibrant housing program.

"We're one of the largest housing financial institutions in the U.S., and we provide hundreds of home loans and loan guarantees for banks, for people around New Mexico. We also have community facilities program, where we help finance the building of community centers and courthouses and hospitals and clinics."

The agency also offers loan guarantees for businesses, he says, including those which want to increase energy efficiency.

Today, "rural development" can mean anything from small farms and farmers' markets to broadband access. For the latter, Brunner says, his agency has yet to cover the entire state, but is working diligently to link producers to consumers.

"We do a lot of broadband work. We've spent about $150 million in the last couple years in broadband in New Mexico. We've got projects all around the state - First, Middle and Last Mile projects. A lot of those are stimulus projects out to cooperatives and member-owned phone companies in these rural areas."

Since the start of the current administration, Brunner says, the Rural Development Agency has spent about $1 billion in loans, loan guarantees and grants around New Mexico.

March 01, 2011

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoLas Cruces – The U.S. Department of Interior is looking for insider information when it comes to solar projects on public lands in New Mexico. The agency is holding a meeting in Las Cruces Thursday.

New Mexicans are invited to help make the call on whether solar energy development should stay “in the zone.” The Department of Interior is holding a meeting in Las Cruces on Thursday evening to listen to views on plans for solar projects on public lands. Judy Calman with the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance says the idea is to make sure that solar planning is done smart from the start, "When we've opened the West up to oil and gas drilling, the lack of good planning in that arena has really led to a lot of environmental destruction. And while solar development is a lot better, we wanna avoid those mistakes."

The plans on the table will set guidelines for 'where,' 'what,' 'when' and 'how big' for solar projects on BLM lands. Calman says the ideal solar zones are areas where conflicts with recreation, wildlife and the environment are expected to be minimal. A few such zones have already been identified near Las Cruces and Alamogordo. The meeting starts at 7 pm Thursday at the Hotel Encanto.

Alex Daue with The Wilderness Society says these large-scale solar projects are needed quickly to meet energy demands. But he says getting zones in place first is a good proposal from the BLM, "They’ve identified a number of places across the state that have great solar resources – limited conflicts. By guiding projects to these zones, we can ensure that solar development on public lands is faster, cheaper and better."

Judy Calman says in addition to the identified Solar Energy Zones in southern New Mexico, the BLM is also considering an option that includes opening up many more acres of public lands to solar development, "And the problem with that alternative is the solar energy zones that they've identified in New Mexico are enough to reach their solar energy goals for the state. Really, they don't have to open those other lands to solar development." She says these extra lands outside the solar zones amount to 22-million more acres of potential solar development.Eric Mack reporting, nmnc@newsservice.org

February 10, 2010

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New Mexico

Santa Fe - Conservationists and wildlife biologists are expressing concern over a one-year drop in Mexican gray wolf numbers in the Southwest. A reintroduction program started in 1998 had envisioned a self-sustaining population by now, but Mexican gray wolf numbers are dropping in Arizona and New Mexico, down 20-percent in the past year. The 42 remaining endangered wolves are part of a 12-year-old reintroduction program.

University of Montana wildlife biologist Rich Fredrickson says the falling numbers threaten the genetic diversity needed for the wolf packs to become self-sustaining, because many pups seeking to mate are closely related, "So when those pups grow up and they look for mates, it's going to be hard for them to find a mate that's not closely related to themselves. And the likely result of this is that the fitness of the Blue Range population is going to decline with time."

A solution offered by Fredrickson is for the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the reintroduction program, needs to develop a science-based recovery plan with explicit attention to genetic management and goals. For his part, Fish and Wildlife Service regional director Benjamin Tuggle pledges to find the reasons for the wolves' decline and reverse it. According to Fredrickson a strategy, called "genetic rescue" would introduce genetically-unrelated wolves into the Arizona-New Mexico border region, "These immigrants bring increased fitness of the overall population, and that fitness increase can last for several generations after the immigrants themselves are dead and gone."

Fredrickson says the gray wolf recovery effort is part of the commitment our society made when President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act in 1973, "The Endangered Species Act requires the federal government to do their best to recover endangered species to levels where they can survive without strong intervention."

Some ranchers have opposed reintroduction because of instances where wolves have killed livestock or pets. Conservation groups have responded with fencing projects, mounted patrols and reimbursement for losses.